A longer day

Well, the previous two days have been pretty short photos wise, so had to make up for it today!

A late morning departure to Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, where there are "guaranteed sea turtles" according to the gents at the camera shop. They weren't wrong! When we made the 1-mile trek (walk/hike, depending on your definition!) to the beach, there was one sunning itself on the beach, and at least a dozen cruising the reef looking for food.

It is a federal offence in America to come within 20 feet of a sea turtle. Naturally, we were the only ones observing this with any sort of measure, as without fail every other tourist got right up in the face of the sea turtle on the beach. I'm sure I heard it go "meh". They must be so used to it at this point:

Sea turtles at Honokohau

Then it was a long drive down to Pololu Valley Lookout. The lookout itself was quite uninteresting, but I entertained a short hike down to the nearby beach. "Yeah, but on the way back you've got to get UP the hill you go down at the start" says Mum. That's a pass.

The scenery at the bottom is other-worldly, you know you are in the Kohala Coast, but you could be on an alien planet. The waves pounding on the beach throw sand/salt up into the air, meaning the surrounding forest has sunlight majestically shining through onto the floor:

Sunlight/forest stuff at Pololu Valley

There were also hundreds and hundreds of cairns set up on big rocks near the ocean. I guess that must be a thing here:

Cairns in Pololu Valley

The journey back to Kona took us past yet another sunset opportunity, at Anaeho'omalu Beach. It's a hop, skip and jump from Waikoloa Village, which is less village and more row-after-row condo of the Marriotts and Hiltons of the world. Way out in the middle of nowhere, it's self-sufficient with restaurants, cafes and supermarkets but there's not much else to see. There was also a good view of Mauna Kea in the evening light:

Sunset in Waikoloa

Another reasonable drive later, we were both very much ready to eat something, having not eaten much during the day. Tomorrow is a long travel day, with two island hops landing us in Kauai, the Garden Isle. See you there!

Felicity says:

More to the point, the lookout is at the TOP of the cliffs in the photos, the beach is at the BOTTOM of the cliffs in the photos. So whilst it might be defined as a "short hike to the bottom", none of the guidebooks ever mention the return trip. Yep, I sat in the car and read a book. 

It's always cool to see turtles, they are just so clumsy out of the water and so graceful in the water. It was a very hot hike to the beach in the middle of the day, but worth it for the scenery and the turtles.